Sunday, November 6, 2011

After his marriage with Khadija, Muhammad (pbuh) used to go to a cave of mountHera, not far from Makkah and spent a month every year in meditation. One night as he lay in the cave, wrapped in his Arab mantle, a voice spoke to him and bade him read. He trembled with awe and said that he could not read. When a third time the voice ordered him to read, he read in the name of Allah. Thus the Holy Quran was first revealed to revelation was revealed to him,

Preaching of Islam:

On receiving prophethood at the age of forty Muhammad (pbuh) began to preach his mission among the misguided citizens of Makkah. His message to the people was:

‘God is one. He is the Maker and creator. He is the Giver of life and the Bringer of death. There is none like him’

He said that people should give up idol-worship. He also asked them to be charitable, to be kind and sympathetic. He emphasized the unity of God (Tawhid) which is the corner stone of the religion of Islam. His wife Khadija was the first to give up idolatry and accepted his mission. Then came Ali, Abu Bakr, Uthman, Abdur Rahman, Zayd Bin Harith, Zubayr and Talha under the banner of Islam. As time went on, the number began to increase and within three or four years number of converts to the new faith amounted to nearly forty souls.

Hostility and its causes:

The success of Muhammad (pbuh) was an eye-sore to the Quraysh. At first they laughed at him. But when he showed his earnestness and determination in teaching and preaching the message of God they began to ill-treat him and his followers. ‘The opposition of the ruling families of Mecca’,says Joseph Hell, ‘was not so much against the new teaching of Islam as against the social and political revolutions which they sought to introduce.’ The preaching of Muhammad (pbuh) struck at the root of their beliefs by denying all the old gods. They were reactionary people and could not think in terms of any change of their existing religion and society. There was a priest-class among the Quraysh who thought that the rising power of Islam meant their own doom and destruction. Taking advantage of the ignorance of the people, they were achieving their own ends. But Islam would be a barrier and so they instigated the Quraysh against the prophet. The house of Kabah was entrusted to the care of the Quraysh family. This was a source of income to them, but they became among the idolaters it would give blow to them.